22 May 2013

So, each and every spring it is this celebrity group that draws the crowds and various noises of admiration (many of them not repeatable here!). So here for one final time, is a recap of some of the best and brightest from the season just gone at Magee Marsh, (for me now anyway, continuing for some out there now though). Now, I'm off to China, and Facebook/Blog/Twitter Black Hole that exists there. Will post when I get out!

21 May 2013

Although I have enjoyed American Woodcocks at Magee Marsh each and every one of the five springs now I have partaken in the spring season there, it was not until this year that I nailed a truly good shot of one. It was only this year when I saw them virtually beak-to-nose patrolling around with newly-hatched fluff ball chicks that I finally got the shot (s) I had craved for five years. But it was well worth the wait. The views of the odd "shorebird" were outrageously good, and I appreciated its oddity all over again: the eyes sat so far up on the head, its ability to disappear at a moments notice, even though it is stood right out in the open, and, of course, that strange, bobbing gait. For a long period before the "hen" woodcock had sat on a nest completely in the open with the sun on her back (this is not where woodcocks are mean to nest-they should be under the shade of the woods!), patiently tolerant of a regular stream of birding admirers who would pop in to check on her progress. Then finally, one day there she was parading around (or should that be bobbing around), with four furry things in tow. It was a great observation, tempered slightly when I returned several hours later to see one of the chicks looking lost, with no sign of the other three or its mother. However, a happy ending was ensured when the next day tje brazen mother walked all four chicks across the Magee Marsh parking lot, at the height of the birding season (i.e. it was jam-packed with hundreds of cars and people), and safely guided them back into the woods, where woodcocks should really be! Along with the Long-eared Owl and Ruff in NW Ohio this spring my personal spring highlights.

19 May 2013

Here is a gallery of the best photos I managed this spring of shorebirds/waders, taken in a short stint on the Upper Texas Coast around High Island, and a longer period in NW Ohio around Magee Marsh/Ottawa NWR. I had very little shorebirding time on the Upper Texas Coast, as I arrived, post-Vietnam, in late April, by which time great numbers of the birds have already moved north. However, I did pick up a superb female Wilson's Phalarope on my first morning there, picking insects off the glassy surface of a pool with its elegant and delicate bill.

The same pool also held a number of Stilt Sandpipers ranging in plumage from dull and grey to some chestnut-cheeked breeding adults, making for quite a supporting cast to the phalarope which stole most of my attention that day.

A few forays down the Bolivar Peninsula as part of our volunteer walks with Houston Audubon Society, saw us find some "bricked-up" Red Knots, as well as some super confiding Semi-palmated Sandpipers, among many other interesting shorebirds.

In Ohio, although I had much longer to explore, the shorebirding, of course, cannot compete with the huge diversity of the Upper Texas Coast, but still provided some thrills and spills, not least a breeding plumage male Ruff at Ottawa NWR (no photos for me though!), with its splendid ruff daubed in black and chestnut; and the splendid, bright shiny new, Boss Unit of Ottawa NWR provided up close and personal Solitary Sandpipers to cause my camera to work overtime.

And, I have not even mentioned another shorebird, which was one of my BIRDS OF SPRING 2013...American Woodcock. A BEST OF WOODCOCK gallery to come next, before I post a huge gallery of the very best songbirds of spring 2013...keep checking here!

15 May 2013

After yesterday's "Kirtland's madness" it was hard to see that I could get a better send off. Today, I flew out of Ohio, for a bizarre and long journey back home, (Cleveland-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Miami-Quito!) However, with winds shaping the migration scene at Magee, and with very favourable conditions overnight, rather than sleep in before my marathon journey home, I was up and out early. I just had to have one more session in the field. After all, this was to be my final fling of the spring, until next year. I always leave with sadness at this, I simply love the ebb and flow of migration, and today was all about a significant flow.

We (Scott Watson and I), arrived to see hordes of Blue Jays migrating overhead, (an under-appreciated migration phenomenon), and regular flocks of Cedar Waxwings (which had been near non-existent this spring at Magee until today) passing over too, with the odd party of Pine Siskins dropping in too. We had not left the parking lot and it was looking good. On top of that there were significant bursts of warbler song creating quite the dawn chorus, indicating that a new batch were in. After all, the singing Blackpolls were not around the day before. I had precious little time, and made precious little progress along the boardwalk but managed to find Chestnut-sided Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Prothonotary Warbler, Veery and absolutely loads of male American Redstarts which seemed to decorate every nook and cranny along the Magee boardwalk. I even managed to luck in on a male Mourning Warbler, if only briefly. My final bird of the spring was to be a classic one: Canada Warbler, of which I had seen very few this year, let alone photographed.

This supremely tame male singing Canada provided the ultimate send-off, and I headed for the airport with a spring in my step, with my mind even now already turning towards the (very different) warblers of China, which I will be headed for next week!

I went out with Scott Watson with one clear objective in mind: find a Kirtland's Warbler. With weather favouring an arrival of birds, and the date being within the peak period of previous Kirtland's records in this area of Ohio, I was adamant the next few days would see one found at Magee/Ottawa NWR. So we began with a chilly walk around the South Woods behind Ottawa NWR, where small flurries of warblers brought us hope for the day to come. Small groups included Tennessee, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, and American Redstart. A Tufted Titmouse there was also the only one I have seen this year, due to limited birding in the US away from migrant traps. We moved on to Magee Marsh, where we ummed and ahhed over where we should try and find a Kirtland's Warbler: the classic spot, East Beach, or where an obliging bird performed for all last year, along the new Magee/Ottawa Crane Creek Estuary Trail?

We chose the Estuary Trail, which was good again, as it has been all spring, proving to be a great addition to the Magee set up, and a great overflow area, when the boardwalk becomes jammed with birders. Cape Mays were prominent along the trail, but sadly, the Piping Plover which was present yesterday had moved on. I also managed to find an Orange-crowned Warbler hiding within the mix of migrants, and enjoyed a pair of grounded Sandhill Cranes, and a passing Northern Harrier. A muddy area also held a nice mix of shorebirds: Least, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers.

Then, just when I was at the furthest point from East Beach, I got a call from Rebecca Hinkle informing me that a Kirtland's Warbler had been found on East Beach; and the rest is history! The bird stayed all day long, giving typically tame views, thrilling many hundreds of people through the day. I returned late afternoon/evening and enjoyed the bird in great light, with just a few people, which was when these photos were taken.

It was a great day all round with good warbler diversity (Canada, Wilson's and Northern Parula added to a list of some 22 species for me for the day, while Scott recorded 28 species out of more than 30 species available!) One of the undoubted highlights was seeing a Blackburnian Warbler sitting on the hand rail along the Magee boardwalk, and getting my first-of-season Philadelphia Vireo, which was stupidly tame like so many birds at Magee.

Tomorrow is predicted to be even better, and with an afternoon flight taking me away from spring migration for another year, I am set to be out early and make the most of one more final spring fling...

13 May 2013

With precious few days left of my US spring left (I must return and prepare for a Sichuan tour on Wednesday), I am making the most of it. OK, so there was little new in today in terms of songbirds. Probably what was around, warbler-wise, was essentially what was around the day before. But this was great, as once again the warblers ignored the high canopies available to them and foraged at low levels, much to the joy of a hardy crowd, once again braving the frosty conditions. Magnolia Warblers took the cake in terms of approachability, with one very nearly landing on Brian Zwiebel while we were talking on the Magee Marsh boardwalk, and later rumours came through of a male Yellow Warbler actually landing on a birder's shoulder. I was green with envy, if only it could have been my shoulder! Blackburnians dangled low, and Red-eyed Vireos had joined the mix in small numbers today too, with one even seen uncharacteristically feeding on the ground. Other changes were a clear hike in the numbers of flycatchers around, with substantially more Least Flycatchers than of late. Warbler-wise, yesterday's Louisiana Waterthrush became today's waterthrush, and continued to be both present, approachable, and photographable through the day.

Bay-breasted Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Northern Parulas, and Black-throated Green Warblers were some of the most conspicuous species, and even an Ovenbird or two got in to the warbler show, and joined the rest in coming in so close I had to back off in my attempts to photograph it! Although I only managed just one Prothonotary Warbler today, a species notable this spring, in its relative scarcity compared to recent Magee springs, it performed perfectly, foraging over the dark glassy waters of the pond, and shining bright yellow in the periods of warming sunshine. Late afternoon word came through (thanks Sherrie and Rebecca) of a Piping Plover along the new Magee/Ottawa Crane Creek Estuary Trail, and Scott and I raced over there to find it roosting on a shingle spit, with a flock of nine Black-bellied Plovers and a Ruddy Turnstone nearby too.

With the weather improving by the end of the end with typically spring like conditions returning to this corner of Ohio, we felt like spring was returning, and so the soothsayers of birding will have us believe. With notable movements of birds on the way over the coming few days. I for one have my fingers crossed for a "Special K" before I leave...Updates to come.

12 May 2013

Today was Mother's Day stateside, and if you mother happened to be a bird photographer, and you gave her the gift of a visit to the Magee Marsh boardwalk today, you will surely be her favorite son/daughter today! Our hopes were not high for the day however, when we were greeted by the widely predicted chilled air and high winds. With this greeting us as we left the hotel, we half expected empty woods and seriously poor birding for the day. How very wrong we were; the woods were sprinkled with a heavy dusting of warblers and with the high winds they were feed low down, very low down. This was quite frankly my favorite day I have ever spent on the boardwalk, with people regularly pointing out warblers foraging just above my shoulder, or just beside me arm, or next to my leg etc.

I started on East Beach where a female Cape May Warbler set the tone for the day, preening in the early morning sunlight at arm's length, a Northern Parula flitted around the edges of the stunted vegetation, and dozens of Palm Warblers hopped around my feet on the open sand.

Then I moved into the woods, and very nearly never left, as American Redstarts, Bay-breasted Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers, and Chestnut-sided, Wilson's and even Pine Warblers fed excitedly in the open to refuel in the wintery conditions, and prepare for another northern journey in the coming days.

On top of that a good number of Northern Waterthrushes were in the woods, and perhaps expected, though the lone Louisiana Waterthrush, found by a visiting British birder (which was his very forst waterthrush of any species), was far from expected at this late stage in the migration season.

Chilly conditions are expected again tomorrow, and if this is what happens, I long for more of the same. Me, and my camera, will be ready. I have just 2 days more of the season to go...

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WHO is Sam Woods?

A pair of tits (Blue and Great) in a London park 30 years back changed my life; I became a birder, and an obsessive birder by the following weekend. Works like Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book and Richard Millington's A Twitcher's Diary helped in no small part to nurture this in my formative years.
30 years on I am still an avid birder but have also learnt to appreciate other sectors of the natural world, especially frogs and primates in particular, through the undoubted influence of David Attenborough The Great and others. I now work as a full-time professional tour leader for Tropical Birding Tours, and now reside in the Andes of Ecuador. I love my job, sharing birds with people provides every bit of a buzz as a lifebird, which, of course, still creates a wave of excitement every time. I have been lucky enough to see well over 6550 bird species on my travels, which does not make me any more talented than anyone else, just one that is always greedy and impatient for more, which has taken me to all seven continents, and always yearning for that ONE...MORE...B-I-R-D!
I use Swarovski binoculars & scope, & shoot with Canon 7D and Canon 400m f5.6L lens.